


Day Ten: "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

by OBlossom



Series: Febuwhump 2021 [10]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Awesome Pepper Potts, FebuWhump2021, Found Family, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, IronDad and SpiderSon, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Protective Peter Parker, Tony Stark Has Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 13:41:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29333235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OBlossom/pseuds/OBlossom
Summary: She looked at the bag like it was going to jump out of his hand and bite her. “And I am going to be convinced to eat this how?”“Ms. Potts, it was so cool! Mr. Harrington had some boring video scheduled as the sub lesson, but Libby has a friend that goes to culinary school and was able to get all these food grade beakers and stuff so we could play around with temperatures and chemical reactions and stuff—““Temperatures and chemical reactions and stuff?” She cocked an eyebrow. “Is that the technical terminology they teach you at that STEM school, Peter?”Peter stomped his foot and let out a whine, “Ms. Potts! C’mon! It’s candeeeeee!”She laughed gleefully. “Oh, Peter! You’re too easy! Fine. I happen to love cinnamon candy—not that Tony ever remembers.” She put her hand out in expectation. “Impress me.”
Relationships: Peter Parker & Pepper Potts, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Febuwhump 2021 [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2138958
Comments: 9
Kudos: 93
Collections: febuwhump 2021





	Day Ten: "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

**Author's Note:**

> She's ba-ack... if only in spirit. ;)
> 
> -Colleen xo

Day 10: “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

Peter came bounding into the penthouse, sopping wet from the storm outside, but smiling huge when he saw Ms. Potts sitting at the kitchen counter drinking a cup of tea and pouring over some legal documents for Stark Industries. “Hey, Ms. Potts! Guess who had a substitute in chemistry today?”

Ms. Potts spun around on her stool, smiling at the excited young man. “I’m assuming by your overall giddiness, it would be you?” She laughed and got up from her seat to grab a dishtowel for the boy to dry off with. “And what magical thing did this substitute do the put you in such a good mood—even as you look like you swam here?” She dropped the towel on his head and gave his hair a tousle.

With a flourish, Peter reached into his backpack and pulled out a small sandwich bag. “We made candy!”

Ms. Potts seemed both amused and confused at the whole thing. “That sounds like tonnes of fun and not very hygienic at the same time!” She laughed. “I’m not sure how I feel about this?”

“No-no-no! It was fine! Libby has a friend that goes to culinary school and—“

“Whoa there, Peter.” Ms. Potts interrupted. “Did you say Libby, as in “devoting her life to the children” when she’s not killing them with rose oil, Libby?”

Peter blushed in embarrassment. “Well, when you put it like that, I look kind of silly being excited, don’t I?”

Ms. Potts got that look on her face that made Peter think he’d done something ‘adorable,’ and he blushed all the harder. Yeah, people wondered why he wore a mask!?

“Ugh, fine! Yes, that Libby! But look!” Peter waved the plastic bag again, “She bagged it all at the end of the day so we could bring it home to share!” He thrust the bag out to her. “It’s cinnamon!”

She looked at the bag like it was going to jump out of his hand and bite her. “And I am going to be convinced to eat this how?”

“Ms. Potts, it was so cool! Mr. Harrington had some boring video scheduled as the sub lesson, but Libby has a friend that goes to culinary school and was able to get all these food grade beakers and stuff so we could play around with temperatures and chemical reactions and stuff—“

“Temperatures and chemical reactions and stuff?” She cocked an eyebrow. “Is that the technical terminology they teach you at that STEM school, Peter?”

Peter stomped his foot and let out a whine, “Ms. Potts! C’mon! It’s candeeeeee!”

She laughed gleefully. “Oh, Peter! You’re too easy! Fine. I happen to love cinnamon candy—not that Tony ever remembers.” She put her hand out in expectation. “Impress me.”

Peter pulled a candy out of the bag and placed it into the palm of her hand. “With compliments from the chef!”

“I don’t think that’s quite right, Peter,” she teased as she popped the candy into her mouth.

“Well, it’s my candy and I can say what I want... Ms. Potts?”

He’d ignored the confused look on her face when she’d put the candy in her mouth. Peter figured she was going to play the critic and ‘analyze’ his creation. But then his spidey-sense blared. “Ms. Potts? What’s wrong?”

Pepper looked terrified. She spit the candy from her mouth and brought her hands up to her throat, scratching pink red lines against rapidly developing hives—along her jaw, around her mouth...

Peter figured it out pretty fast. “FRIDAY! Epi-pen! Where?” Peter called out. He remembered when Betty had reacted to a coconut cookie and Mr. Harrington needed to administer an epi-pen. It had been terrifying, but they’d all learned how to do it after—for Betty, and now for Ms. Potts.

“There is an epi-pen in the miscellaneous drawer next to the refrigerator.” FRIDAY prompted immediately. “As well, I have notified the medical staff of the situation.

“Thanks, FRI!” Peter hollered and he vaulted over the island, knocking all of Ms. Pott’s papers to the floor—but there was no time. He yanked the drawer out, scattering contents in his haste to track down the tell-tale tube.

There it was!

He grabbed the epi-pen, rushing over to Ms. Potts who had sat herself on the floor in her weakness. “Here you go, Ms. Potts.” He assured her, and with a determination like he’d never had before, he pressed the pen to her thigh, waited for the click and counted slow. 1--- 2--- 3. Done. He tossed the pen away.

Ms. Potts was looking a little less panicked, and a little more on the verge of passing out. “FRIDAY, when’s the medical team getting here?” He massaged the injection site. 

“ETA is one minute and thirty seconds, Peter.” 

Peter gave Ms. Potts a quick once over, she was looking clammy and pale, and her breathing was sounding pretty not good. With that he made his decision. “FRIDAY, tell them there’s a change of plans. Have them meet us at the elevator on the med bay floor in forty-five seconds.”

“Message relayed, Peter.”

“And FRIDAY, bring the elevator to the penthouse level, now! Medical Emergency!”

“Understood, Peter.”

Ms. Potts was gasping and ready to pass out. They had to move.

Peter placed his arms under her knees and around her back. “I’m gonna get you help now, Ms. Potts, okay?” He asked.

She didn’t answer, but he wasn’t really waiting for one. Peter scooped her up and had her at the elevator as the doors slid open. He reassured her as the elevator went down to the med bay floor, but she was barely conscious when they got there.

It said something about the professionalism of Mr. Stark’s staff that they said nothing about the gangly sixteen year old boy carrying the full-sized adult woman with ease, but it didn’t matter. What mattered was that they were just barely ready for her as he stepped out of the elevator and then she was being whisked away to get the help that she needed.

Peter stared, dumbstruck, as they all disappeared into one of the treatment rooms.

She’d be fine.

Right?

“Holy shit!” Peter whispered. Ms. Potts had almost died!

Peter stepped back and slid down the wall behind him. He needed a second to process exactly what had just happened. 

Ms. Potts has almost died — and she had eaten a candy that Peter had given her. 

Peter had almost killed Ms. Potts and he didn’t understand! How had this happened?

She’d said she loved cinnamon, right? 

Unless... had someone gotten to Ms. Potts before Peter had gotten to the tower? What if someone was out for the two of them? Tony hadn’t mentioned any new threats or Peter would have kept a better eye out for anything weird. Tony knew that he’d have helped out with something like that in a heartbeat. 

Ms. Potts had almost died, and if he hadn’t been there to help, he’d have been—

Well. He tried to push the thoughts of the gaping hole Ben’s passing had left in his life, but only compounded the grief and horror when he coupled it with the thought of Ms. Potts being gone, too.

His eyes burned and his breathing picked up.

She was fine.

She was fine.

She was fine.

Ms. Potts had almost died... but she was fine.

The elevator doors opened again, and a frantic Mr. Stark came rushing out and down the hallway. 

“Mr. Stark?” Peter called to him, struggling to pull himself together while getting up from his spot on the floor.

Mr. Stark turned and came back to Peter, grabbed him by the shoulders, and looked him in the eye. “What happened, kid? They said she’s had an anaphylactic reaction to something but they’re not sure what she came in contact with!”

“I don’t know either, Mr. Stark! I was gonna ask if you knew—“ 

“Mr. Stark?” A nurse had stepped out of Ms. Potts’ room and was beckoning him in. “If you’d like to come in, she’s stable now.”

He looked to the nurse and then back at Peter, “We’ll table this for now, okay? I’m just gonna,” he pointed over his shoulder to the room his fiancée lay waiting for him.

Peter nodded, “Yeah, okay. I’m gonna wait here and make sure things stay okay, okay?” Peter’s thoughts were spinning.

Mr. Stark gave Peter a look of concern. “Okay.” He said hesitantly, and then jogged down the hall to Ms. Potts’ room.

The return to quiet was definitely not a good thing for Peter. 

He sat again and tried to think. 

It didn’t make any sense? 

Maybe there was something on the papers she’d been handling? Was there a glass on the counter that he hadn’t noticed? Would Mr. Stark allow him to use FRIDAY to analyze—“

“Kid?”

Peter’s head popped up at Mr. Stark’s call and he stood. It had only been a couple of minutes so Peter was confused. “Mr. Stark? Is everything okay?”

Mr. Stark stalked towards him. “No. Everything is not okay.” He growled low. “What did you do?”

“What? I gave her an epi-pen and rushed her right here. Why?” Peter looked over Mr. Stark’s shoulder, trying to catch a glimpse of whatever could be happening. “Did something else happen?”

Peter was getting scared. 

“She’s allergic to strawberries and you knew it! Was it supposed to be a joke? Some sick prank? Why the hell did you give her something that could kill her!?”

“But the-- ?” Peter started.

“But nothing! That woman is my life!” he waved toward the room where Ms. Potts was being cared for with one hand; shoved Peter hard in the chest with his other. “And I thought YOU, of all people, would keep her safe!”

“Mist—“

“Stop!” Tony finally roared. “I don’t want to hear your ‘I don’t knows’ and ‘Mr. Starks.’ I don’t even want to look at you now. There are no three strikes with this one, kid. Get your shit out of my penthouse and get out of my tower. Someone will call you about the suit.” He seethed, and then turned and marched back to be with Ms. Potts.

Peter couldn’t process—couldn’t understand.

“mr. stark. the candy was cinnamon.” 

His weak whisper went unheard and after a few minutes of blinking into the void, Peter turned around, called the elevator and left the tower, walking out into the storm.

* * * * * *

It had taken several hours and the guarantees of Dr. Cho and two separate nurses that Pepper would be just fine if he left her alone for a few hours, before Tony felt comfortable enough to head up to the penthouse to shower and change clothes. She was being kept for observation until at least tomorrow afternoon and had been sleeping almost the entire time he’d been there. 

And there was no way Tony wanted to stay in a three piece suit for that long if he could help it.

He’d confirmed with FRIDAY that Peter had left the tower, shaking his head at the sheer gall of the kid. How he could just... 

No. Tony had to shake it off. He’d made a mistake. Misread the room, if you will. He’d get over the juvenility and betrayal and move on.

... Except that the kid had left all of his shit in his home.

Tony grabbed the backpack, fighting the urge to chuck it off the roof of the building he was so mad—and then he saw the damned bag of candy.

How could Peter do something so horrible? He’d been so sure that they were a team... Hell, he thought that Peter had looked up to him—maybe even loved him? And he sure as hell thought the kid respected Pepper enough to not intentionally harm her! When that nurse had told him that Peter had convinced her to eat something with strawberry in it...

It didn’t make sense.

But what’s done was done and Tony needed to wash his hands of it before he lost his damned mind. No one hurt Pepper.

Grabbing his phone, he dialled May one last time. She’d need to know to expect a courier for Peter’s school items and he was dealing with this now. Pepper didn’t need to come home to that kind of stress.

“Hey, Tony! I’m glad you called!” May answered her phone. “Is Peter with you?”

Caught off guard, Tony replied, “No.”

“Well,” May continued. “He’s not answering his phone and that sub of his, Libby, has been trying to contact all of the students she had in Chemistry today, but especially Peter.”

Libby? “What are you talking about May?”

May sounded exasperated, “I guess the kids all made candy today. Morning Chemistry made cinnamon. Afternoon Chemistry made strawberry. She apparently sent the candy home with the kids but got the batches mixed up and...” May snickered. “I guess the school had talked to her about Peter’s newly discovered rose ‘allergy’ so she wanted to make sure that Peter wasn’t accidentally exposed to anything else he shouldn’t be.” 

Tony thought she was done, hoped that she was because he needed to fix this epic screw up now, but she kept on, “I swear, Tony, that woman is a menace.”

“Yeah,” he cleared his throat. “Uh, May? I think I messed up...”

* * * * * *

Water dripped into his eyes and off of his nose.

It had been hours and was dark now, but the storm was determined to outlast Peter as he stood in the alleyway across the Avengers Tower. It was okay, though. Peter was Spider-Man, even if his uniform was upstairs in the penthouse... um—wow—even if Mr. Stark was going to take his uniform away for good. Either way, he’d already learned that lesson. 

He could handle a bit cold weather.

Peter had watched Colonel Rhodes, and Happy Hogan enter the tower via the front entrance over the last half hour, making Peter curious. He hoped and prayed that Ms. Potts was okay, but hadn’t really gotten any real information before he’d left. 

Then his heart jumped. What if they were all here because something was wrong?! What if...? 

No. Ms. Potts was going to be fine.

Ms. Potts was going to be fine.

Please, God, let Ms. Potts be okay?

He shifted and scanned up and down the street, not wanting to miss anything.

The one plus was that he’d finally stopped shivering.

But that didn’t matter. Mr. Stark may not have let him explain, but Peter would do what he could to keep them all safe, even if Mr. Stark never wanted to see him again. 

He blinked a little slower. Maybe he wasn’t feeling so cold after all, but he still needed to focus—

He’d sooner die than let someone take another family member away from him, whether they saw him that way or not.

* * * * * *

Rhodey was trying to understand. “So you accused Peter of trying to kill Pepper even though it was the teacher that had almost killed Peter messing up some pseudo-science experiment and giving him the wrong end product, right?”

“Right!” Tony yelled. “And now Peter is missing and his phone and suit are here and the storm is getting worse. I can’t leave Pepper, so I need you to go looking for him!” He looked desperate. “Please?”

Happy shook his head, “Boss, you really messed this one up.” He gave Tony a shoulder pat, the closest Happy could get to comforting. “I can head over to Ned and MJ’s and see if they’ve seen him.”

“And I’ll take a quick tour of the area, see if he maybe decided to stay close—muster up the nerve to come back to grab his stuff or something.” Rhodey stood up.

Tony ran his hands down his haggard face. “You’d think that after all this time, I’d learn to keep my stupid mouth shut before I know all the facts. Guys. This kid is... just...” Tony couldn’t find the words. 

“We know, Tony.” Rhodey piped up. “We’ll get him back and you can fix this. Okay. He’s a good kid. He’ll understand.”

Tony rubbed his eyes and pulled himself together. “I hope so, Rhodey, I really hope so.” He clapped Rhodey on the back and led them to the elevator, “C’mon guys, I’ll walk you down before I go back up to the med bay. Pepper should be waking up soon and I still need to tell her what happened.”

They didn’t speak as the elevator descended, and Tony accompanied the men across the lobby to the doors in an attempt to delay the inevitable ass-chewing he’d receive from Pepper.

No one had thought to bring an umbrella, so they all stood looking at the rain—“He couldn’t have done this during the summer, huh?” Rhodey asked.

Tony glared.

Happy, however, was distracted by something going on across the street. “Hey, guys, what do you think that’s about?”

They all turned to watch a crowd gathered around the mouth of the alley across the street. 

Tony blanched, “Guys, I don’t have a good feeling about this.” And like a shot all three men were outside and crossing the street to get to the chaos.

Tony got through the crowd first and saw him immediately. “Peter!” he called out as he knelt beside the unconscious boy. He put his hand to his forehead. “Shit!” 

Happy and Rhodey made it through next. “Oh, kid.” Happy muttered, and then went right into Head of Security mode. “Alright, everybody, back up! Give the kid some room to breathe. 

Rhodey leaned down to Tony, “C’mon, Tones. Let’s get the kid to the med bay. They can take care of him there.” 

That seemed to snap Tony back to himself. With barely a grunt, he’d gathered the boy in his arms and made his way back to the tower. “C’mon, kid. You can’t do this to me. I have so many lego kits to buy you to make up for all of this...”

Without another word, the three men made their way, Happy stopping traffic for them to cross and Rhodey running ahead to alert FRIDAY and the med bay of their incoming patient.

After the tongue lashing he’d received from May earlier, he’d call her himself once he had a prognosis on the boy.

* * * * * *

Peter was warm, and he wasn’t sure why that mattered.

He’d been in the alleyway. He’d been staking out the tower ‘cuz Ms. Potts had been attacked and it couldn’t happen again—even if Mr. Stark didn’t believe him. He had to make sure that Ms. Potts stayed safe— Ms. Potts was... 

“Ms. Potts!” Peter sat up in a flash, wildly looking for the person he needed to be okay the most. She was... she was...

She was sitting in the chair beside the bed he was currently occupying.

“Ms. Potts?”

She put down the book she had been reading and stood beside him. “Hey, sweetie. Why don’t you lie back down and get under those blankets before Tony gets back and freaks out about you not being burritoed in seventeen layers of fabric, okay?” She guided him back down to his pillows. “And, I think that you should be calling me Pepper, Peter.” She smiled softly. “I think it’s a rule when you save someone’s life and all.”

“Okay, Ms. Potts,” he answered. “If you say so.” He couldn’t take his eyes off of her. He remembered how she’d looked, struggling for air, face swelling in reaction to... something? Now, he could see that her colour was better. She looked tired, still pale with visible redness along her neck and jawline, but she was breathing and the fear was gone from her eyes. “Are you okay now?” He had to ask.

She nodded, “Everything is fine now. I’m on the mend, you’re safe. It’s all we could ask for after the day we’ve had.”

Peter blushed, and then checked to see if Mr. Stark was anywhere in the vicinity. 

“Are you looking for something, Peter?”

Peter must have been more stressed and tired than he thought because his eyes burned and he fought back tears. “I think I need to get going before Mr. Stark knows I’m here. He was,” Peter cleared his throat and looked down at his hands fussing with one of the many blankets on the bed. ”He was very clear that I was not to be in the tower, Ms. Potts.”

“It’s Pepper, Peter, and you are very much welcome to be here. It seems there was a misunderstanding and...”

“And you, Ms. Potts are supposed to be in bed right now.” Mr. Stark entered the med bay room.

“Well, dear Tony, I couldn’t very well leave Peter to wake up on his own, could I?” She teasingly replied, already rising up to return to her own bed only a few feet away.

He gave her a playful wink, “No, love, I guess you couldn’t.”

Peter starting inching off the bed. “I’m awake now, so I’m just gonna head back to—“ He’d almost said alley. Mr. Stark hadn’t wanted to hear about the threat earlier, so he’d find a way to prove that he hadn’t played a part.

“You are going nowhere, Mr. Parker. Not until I’ve had a chance to talk about what happened tonight and you reach a normal spider temperature, per Dr. Cho’s instructions, and not before.”

This was apparently all the permission Peter needed. “Mr. Stark, I promise you I was not the one to hurt Ms. Potts. I’d never! Not even as a joke! I couldn’t check with FRIDAY, but I was watching the tower and while I didn’t see anything suspic—“ 

“Hold on!” Tony interrupted. “You were watching the tower tonight? That’s why you were out in that rainstorm?”

Peter nodded.

“You were watching to make sure that Pepper was safe, even after I kicked you out of the tower?”

Peter nodded again. “Of course! I get why you’d have suspected me and especially why you’d be mad, but I knew it wasn’t me so that meant I had to start from nothing and I couldn’t ask FRIDAY, so... And then I worried that maybe Pepper wasn’t supposed to be the target and if you were so busy worrying about Ms. Potts that you weren’t being careful, well, then you could still get hurt so you needed someone to watch your back. And that was me.”

Tony stared at the kid in disbelief.

“Well, I watched as well as I could from outside.”

“And ended up with moderate hypothermia, you idiot.”

Peter frowned, “I’m sorry?”

Tony sighed and ran his hands through his hair in frustration. “No, Peter, I’m sorry. I overreacted to incorrectly conveyed information and ended up losing my absolute shit on you when you did absolutely nothing wrong.”

“Oh.” Peter didn’t know what to say to that.

“Pete, what happened tonight was the result of absolute carelessness. No one intended for anyone to get hurt but in the end, it seems that’s how it happened anyways.”

“I don’t understand?” Peter couldn’t follow.

“This afternoon, you gave Pepper strawberry candy.”

Peter immediately jumped in. “But I didn’t! Ned and MJ and I made it ourselves! I swear!”

Tony closed his eyes and silently counted to ten. Libby the ‘wunder-sub’ was going down once he figured out how to fix this with the kid. “Peter, Libby gave you strawberry candy instead of the cinnamon that you and Ned and MJ made.”

Peter was lost. “Why would she do that?”

Oh, Tony had opinions on that, but Pepper piped in from her bed to keep him from airing them. “She apparently had the morning and afternoon classes make different flavours, then didn’t label anything. She also chose to make sure that all of the candy looked exactly the same, using the same red food colouring, just different flavour additives. And then she lost track of which candy was which, and ultimately sent you home with the wrong one. Simple as that.”

Peter thought about that for a second. “So I’m the one that gave you the strawberry candy.”

“Yes, but—“ Ms. Potts tried to interject.

“No. I hurt you. I’m the one that gave you the strawberry candy. I didn’t check it or anything. If I’d just...” Peter couldn’t hide the guilt. “Ms. Potts.” He struggled to make eye contact, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I swear it to you.”

“Pete,” Tony jumped in but Pepper interrupted him.

“Peter, I know that. I’d trust you with my life—with good cause. You proved that today.”

Tony couldn’t stand what he was seeing in the kid, “Pete, Please. I’ve told you. I’m the one that should be sorry. I never should have said what I said to you. It was cruel and I’m horrified that I said any of it. Can you forgive me?”

Peter looked lost. “Mr. Stark, I get why you’d have reacted like that... and in the end you were right anyways. I did it. Please don’t apologize. I deserved every word of it, and probably more.” 

Tony got real serious, real fast, “C’mon, kid, no one deserved what I said, Not even that idiot, Libby.” Why wouldn’t he kid believe him? “We know it was an accident, AND you saved her!”

“That doesn’t make me feel better, Mr. Stark, sir.”

“Then what will?”

Peter pulled the blankets up to his neck and snuggled in. “I’m going to close my eyes for a bit, Mr. Stark, sir. If you could let me know when Dr. Cho comes in so I can get checked. I’ll get out of your hair as soon as possible.”

“Peter, buddy, c’mon?”

“Thank you for everything, Mr. Stark. I think I just need a little time.”

“Time?”

Peter wouldn’t look at him, but whispered, “I destroy everything I love, Mr. Stark—and I won’t allow myself to do it again, no matter how much it hurts.” With those words, Peter rolled over and closed his eyes.

And Tony wondered when this awful world would give this poor, damned kid a break.

**Author's Note:**

> One day, when I'm not feeling like every day is the day I'm not going to get my prompt finished in time, I will play around and figure out how to connect this story with Day 7: poisoning... but today is not that day! 
> 
> \-- and maybe I'll add some sort of epilogue to the whole mess?
> 
> Who knows? I sure don't. ;)
> 
> Day ten: complete.


End file.
